iMac Pro: Worth the Upgrade for Photo and Video Editing?

The iMac has long been a favorite all-in-one of designers who spend their day in the Adobe suite thanks to a big, high-quality integrated display, a comfortable operating system, and reliable performance. The new Apple iMac Pro steps up the processing power, squeezing workstation-class Xeon computing power into the same chassis.

We put the new system to the test using the Adobe Creative Cloud suite and some high-resolution video and images. Our current testing system in the PC Labs, a 2014 iMac with an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and AMD Radeon Pro 580 graphics, is a few years old now. It simply can't handle some of the latest video formats—the 5.2K HEVC footage recorded by the GoPro Fusion is a prime example. For photo editing in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop it crunches away at 100MP Raw images, but requires some patience.

In side-by-side testing with our iMac Proreview unit, we saw what a few years of improvements from Apple, AMD, and Intel can do. We see silky smooth video playback on the iMac Pro's 27-inch display, where the older iMac only rendered choppy results.

Render times are also cut significantly. The same project that took five hours on the older iMac finishes in two hours on the iMac Pro. If you don't want to sit around waiting for projects to render out for upload, the Pro is a big time saver. (We also tested the project on the top-end 2017 iMac configuration, which took 3.5 hours.)

We also saw some general improvements when working with images in Lightroom and Photoshop. Previews render much more quickly, a big plus if you're going through a big shooting session and need to make a first cull to throw out shots that aren't perfectly focused, something you won't know until a preview is rendered at full-resolution. Exports to Photoshop, and actions in Photoshop, are also noticeably faster.

You can check out some of the real-time performance improvements in the embedded video. If you're mulling an upgrade from an older iMac and want to see if the iMac Pro will speed up your workflow, you can find our full set of benchmarks in our review.

About Our Expert

Jim Fisher

Principal Writer, Cameras

My Experience

Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I've covered cameras at PCMag for the past 14 years, which has given me a front row seat for the changeover from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, the smartphone camera revolution, and the emergence of drones for aerial imaging. I have extensive experience with every major mirrorless and SLR system, and am also comfortable using point-and-shoot and action cameras. As a Part 107 Certified drone pilot, I’m licensed to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for commercial and editorial purposes, and am knowledgeable about federal rules and regulations regarding drones.

The Technology I Use

I use all of the major camera systems on a regular basis, swapping between Canon, Fujifilm, L-Mount, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon, and Sony systems. I still find time to use Leica M rangefinders and Pentax SLRs on occasion, too. I keep an iPhone 13 in my pocket for the rare occasions I'm not carrying a camera.

I'm not a brand-specific photographer. For product review photos, I swap between a Canon EOS R5 and a Sony a7R IV. I use Flashpoint and Godox TTL lights and Peak Design tripods, and I most often reach for a Think Tank or Peak Design backpack to carry equipment.

When it comes to computers, I'm an unapologetic Mac person and have been for the past 20 years. I write in Pages and use Numbers for spreadsheets. I currently swap between an Intel i9 MacBook Pro and an Apple Silicon Mac Studio for writing and use a calibrated BenQ 32.5-inch with the Studio for photo and video editing. I rely on a LaCie 6big RAID for media storage. I also keep a PC around for gaming, but please don't tell my Macs about it; they'll get jealous.

I split time between several different software apps depending on the type of editing I'm doing. For Raw image processing, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic is my standard. I pair it with a LoupeDeck CT console to supplement my keyboard and trackpad, and I lean on RNI All Films 5 presets when I want to give an image a film look. I use Apple Final Cut Pro for video editing.

My first digital camera was the Canon PowerShot Elph S200, and my first DSLR was the Pentax *ist DL. I have a soft spot for antique film gear. I still use a 1950 vintage Rolleiflex Automat TLR and love trying mid-century Leica lenses on film and digital alike. I mainly use whatever's in front of me for review for digital snaps, but I pick up either my Leica M Typ 240 or Pentax K-3 III Monochrome when I want to step away from review work. In my downtime, I enjoy bird watching, reading, video games, and both good and bad movies, especially in the sci-fi and horror genres.

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